Kaiping Diaolou and Villages

Kaiping City is a brilliant Pearl at the southwest part of the Pearl River delta. It is a famous homeland of the overseas Chinese, a famous land of construction, a famous land of culture and art, and a famous land of the noted Kaiping Diaolou in the nation.

It is the typical region of rivers in the south of China . With beautiful natural sceneries, rich humanity landscape and unique tourism spots, such as the state AAAA grade turism spot the Liyuan Garden, the shocking art corridor of architecture Diaolou, Kaiping City was awarded the Excellent Tourism City of China and the State Garden City by the state.

There exist 1,833 diaolous in Kaiping's 16 townships. the most typical diaolous are mostly seen in Tangkou, Baihe, Xiangang and Chikan township in the central plain. the five nominated places listed for application for world cultural heritage are located in these four townships. they demonstrate the earliest and most representative diaolous, especially the diaolous built in their most booming time. they are the typical diaolous that combine the chinese and western styles and indicate the relationship with the villages. one can see the various types of diaolous and their different functions, which show their high value. all in all, these diaolous are all major historical and cultural sites to be protected at the national level.

The diaolou were built between the 1600s and the 1920s, although most of the 1,833 diaolou still standing date from the early 1900s.The oldest diaolou is Yinglonglou in Sanmen Township, built between 1522 and 1566.

Diaolou were constructed for three reasons: 1) as night watchtowers at the edge of a village to alert about arriving bandits; 2) as communal protection (each family contributed to the cost and was entitled to a room in case of attack); and 3) as individual fortified residences.

Many Chinese emigrated from this area to other parts of the world.Money sent back by Overseas Chinese helped support their family back home during chaotic and difficult times in China.Overpopulation, starvation, kidnapping, rebellion, and fighting between various warlords all contributed to the instability of the region.

Some of the Overseas Chinese came back to settle in their hometowns; others were never able to return.The returning Overseas Chinese brought with them Western architecture and customs.Many imported furniture, wore Western clothing, and even ate using knives and forks instead of chopsticks.The homes they built reflected architectural details from afar.

The tops of the diaolou are quite fanciful C a combination of architectural features that the Overseas Chinese saw in Hong Kong, Macau, and other foreign places.Some have colonnades, terraces, overhanging balconies, etc.The appearance of the diaolou depended on the wealth of the owner, aesthetic values, and the impact of external culture.

The property inscribed here consists of four groups totalling 20 Diaolou, representing some 1,800 tower houses in their village settings. They reflect the culmination of almost five centuries of tower-house building and the still strong links between Kaiping and the Chinese Diaspora.

These buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families and used as temporary refuge, of which 473 remain; residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences, of which 1,149 survive; and watch towers, the latest development, which account for 221 of the buildings.

Â Built of stone, pise (compressed earth), brick or concrete, these buildings represent a complex and confident fusion between Chinese and western architectural styles.

Retaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding agricultural landscape, the Diaolou testify to the final flowering of local building traditions that started in the Ming period in response to local banditry.

Travelers can get to the diaolou several ways.There are day trips from Guangzhou, arranged through hotels. There are also nearly fifty public buses daily from Guangzhou to Kaiping.In addition, if a tourist chooses to stay overnight, there are two large hotels in Kaiping and taxis can be booked from there for the day.Local Kaiping guides do not speak English; however, armed with a map and some photos, a car and driver can easily get visitors around to the various diaolou locations.

In addition, there is a daily catamaran to Kaiping directly from Hong Kong (4 hours) at low cost.And, Kaiping is about halfway between Macao and Guangzhou.There are eight buses daily from Macao and also daily buses from Shenzhen.